MODELING RELATIONSHIPS AMONG LEARNING,ATTITUDE, SELF-PERCEPTION,AND SCIENCE ACHIEVEMENT FOR GRADE 8 SAUDI STUDENTS

The purpose of the present study was to examine the validity of modeling science achievement in terms of 3 social psychological variables (school connectedness, science attitude, and active learning) and 2 self-perception variables (self-confidence and science value). Two models were tested: full mediation and partial mediation. In the full-mediation model, effects of the 3 social psychological variables upon science achievement were hypothesized to be completely mediated through science value and self-confidence. In the partial-mediation model, however, those 3 variables were hypothesized to affect achievement directly as well as indirectly through the mediating roles of science value and self-confidence. Data were obtained from Grade 8 Saudi students (N = 4,099) who participated in TIMSS 2007. The relationships among constructs were examined with the use of structural equation modeling software Mplus7. Results indicated that both models performed adequately in terms of fit indices, but the partial-mediation model was retained due to its superiority over the full-mediation model in representing the sample covariance matrix as tested through chi-square difference test. The mediating role of self-confidence in the relationships of science attitude and active learning to achievement was substantiated, but the mediating role of science value was not supported.     

Different perspectives of cultural mediation: implications for the research design on studies examining its effect on students’ cognition

In this forum, I extend Tao, Oliver, and Venville’s paper Chinese and Australian children’s understanding of the earth: a cross cultural study of conceptual development to discuss the different views on culture and cultural mediation. I tease out nuances in the viewpoints to suggest three ways to theoretically frame studies examining cultural mediation of students’ cognition. Specifically, cultural mediation may be attributed to innate psychological attributes, an accretion of cultural elements, or the social interaction process. Each of these ideas represents a theoretical lens and has implications for the research design of studies relating cultural mediation to cognition. In the final section of this forum paper, I show how a study conducted from the symbolic interactionist viewpoint underscoring cultural mediation as a social interaction process might unfold.     

人民调解制度研究

我国的人民调解制度得到国际上的极力赞誉，被称之为“东方经验”、“中华民族的创举”，它有着深厚的社会、化基础，得到中国传统化和中华民族心理素质的支持，继承了中国古代民间调解的优良传统，在新民主主义革命时期已奠定了基础，目前已形成了遍布全国城乡、厂矿企业、事业单位的人民调解体系，并在预防和调解民同纠纷方面发挥着巨大的作用，取得了可喜的成绩。在目前的新形势下，首先必须保持人民调解的民族特色，认真贯彻“三个代表”思想，强化功能，健全组织，提高调解人员水平，并需要进一步解决调解协议的效力问题，制订人民调解法。     

The curriculum as a tool for inclusive participation: Students’ voices in a case study in a Portuguese multicultural school

Portuguese schools in urban areas became multicultural during the 90s. Some students are quite distanced from the school culture. Many repeat grades. The curriculum emerges as a means of (re)organizing school practice, so that it is designed to foster inclusion. It is a tool for social mediation between the culture and knowledge of teenagers, and academic ones. It shapes the interactions between participants, cultural tools and knowledge. The principles of inclusive schooling promote the respect for diversity, underlining the need to listen to all voices of a learning community. According to the sociocultural approach appropriating knowledge and developing competencies is a complex process. Interactive practices shape students’ academic performances. Collaborative project work has been used to promote students’ engagement. This action-research project developed an alternative curriculum in a class (grades 5 and 6) from a poor and multicultural school in Lisbon. A follow-up investigated the impact of the educational changes on the learners’ participation in school and in social practices, and on their future life. We aim at analyzing this alternative curriculum process by focussing on students’ narratives. Results highlight improvements in students’ academic and social competencies. Changing practices during compulsory education facilitated achievement and resulted in a better socialization.     

Environmental knowledge and behavioural outcomes of tourism students in Australia: towards testing a range of mediation and moderated mediation effects

Our study examines the environmental knowledge (EK) and behavioural outcomes of students studying ecotourism in Sydney, Australia. Three competing models were tested to examine the relationships between EK, participation intention (PI) in ecotourism programs, landscape likeability (LL) and social interactions (SI); and the study also tested the moderated mediation influence of gender differences and relationship length on mediators. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyse the data collected from 173 residential tourism students. Key findings suggest whilst LL and PI are significant outcomes of EK, LL has a stronger mediating effect on PI compared to SI; and all mediation effects are further moderated by gender differences. However, only Model 3 confirms the moderating effect of the length of relationship. Noting the key role that EK plays in influencing their PI and LL, our study also suggests ways of developing the tourism students’ EK, through various experiential and pedagogical interventions.     

Academic Identity Formation and Motivation Among Ethnic Minority Adolescents: The Role of the “Self” Between Internal and External Perceptions of Identity

Identity is often studied as a motivational construct within research on adolescent development and education. However, differential dimensions of identity, as a set of internal values versus external perceptions of social belonging, may relate to motivation in distinct ways. Utilizing a sample of 600 African American and Latino adolescents (43% female; mean age = 13.9), the present study examines whether self‐regulated learning (SRL) mediates two distinct dimensions of academic identity (i.e., value and belonging) and mastery orientation. This study also examines whether self‐efficacy moderates the mediating role of SRL between identity and mastery. Results show evidence for moderated mediation between SRL and academic self‐efficacy. Self‐regulated learning played its strongest mediating role between belonging and mastery and for low‐efficacy students specifically.     

凉山彝族纠纷民间调解对解决农村纠纷的启示

本文选取了凉山彝族“德古”调解彝人社会纠纷的一个典型案例,从剖析案例整个调解过程,得出彝族习惯法中调解程序体现之特点和蕴含之精神.针对我国农村纠纷突出,血案频发的现实,指出了农村中人民调解机制的缺位和低效,提出相关解决办法和措施:增强人民调解的责任心和使命感;注重农村文化建设,加强农村道德和法律教育;注重民间调解的结案仪式,建立回访机制;加强民间劝导,构建多方面参与、全方位覆盖的农村调解网络体系.     

Constructing inclusive education in a neo‐liberal context: Promoting inclusion of Arab‐Australian students in an Australian context

School systems are a major social change agent capable of challenging social inequalities and economic disadvantages. Yet, while schools in Australia are being confronted with increasingly culturally diverse populations as well as an increasing focus on student retention, this transformative role is increasingly being played out in a broader educational context that has been found to replicate rather than challenge patterns of social inequality. Successive governments in Australia have responded to this context with a raft of policy initiatives. This paper, based on three‐year longitudinal research undertaken in the city of Melbourne, outlines this policy context and introduces the theoretical approach that underpins its innovative approach to managing cultural diversity in educational institutions. It argues for, and presents, a multidimensional model for managing cultural diversity in schools, one that provides the tools for transformative practices to be undertaken to effect positive change in school environments for the benefit of all students.     

A means of personalising learning: incorporating old and new literacies in the curriculum with mobile phones

This article explores a notion of ‘personalising learning’ which puts the learner at the centre, supported by mobile technology and teacher mediation. It reports a small study in the Northern Territory of Australia, with indigenous students who were given mobile camera phones to capture aspects of their everyday lives and bring them into school. It found that they created a range of narratives that linked their traditional literacies with ‘new literacies’. The article argues that, using tools like these, students can contribute to their curriculum. However, it raises issues of cultural differences between teachers and students, and the importance of developing critical literacy in conjunction with new communication forms and other new literacies. Finally it points to the important role of teachers in leading change in school cultures, and particularly assessment, that will allow these personal contributions to learners' curricula.     

Peer mediation services for conflict resolution in schools: What transformations in activity characterise successful implementation?

This article presents the findings from research conducted at nine schools (seven primary, two secondary) in England, which had previously implemented a peer mediation service for students experiencing interpersonal conflict. This analysis was informed by themes from a previous stage of research conducted at one additional primary school, where the process from pre‐ to post‐intervention had been observed in greater detail. The article utilises activity theory as a conceptual framework for understanding and describing these processes for a number of reasons that will be briefly explained. The findings of this research highlight the need for realistic anticipation of the degree of cultural transformation required to fully support such pupil empowerment initiatives in schools. Peer mediation was most successful in schools where there was a considerable shift in the division of labour, accompanied by the production of new cultural tools that promoted new ways of thinking, speaking and acting with regard to conflict.     

A Subjectivist Model of School Leadership for International Schools: Greenfield Revisited

Greenfield’s subjectivist approach to the construction and interpretation of social reality is examined and applied to school organizations in an attempt to demonstrate that such organizations may be advantageously viewed as entities constructed and sustained by ideas in people’s minds. The path to understanding schools and their administration lies with the interpretation and analysis of the experience of people in these institutions rather than in the use of overarching theories of educational management. International schools have always provided education for the ever-increasing flux of people across frontiers, either temporarily because of job postings (globally mobile families) or more permanently because of migration. The high degree of cultural diversity in these schools augments the complexity of leadership because staff, students, and parents bring their own cultural heritage, experience, and expectations to bear, together, in a single school setting. This also increasingly applies in government schools in many countries because of migration. Ethnic cultural repertoires play a major role in the creation, deciphering, and juxtaposition of individual social realities and have an important bearing on organization culture. The article concludes with the importance of communicative and cultural competencies as the main tools for effective school leadership in international schools.     

教师支持对中学生阅读素养的影响:阅读投入、阅读兴趣的中介作用

为探讨阅读投入、阅读兴趣在教师支持与中学生阅读素养中的中介作用,研究采用阅读素养测验、阅读调查问卷与教师支持问卷对559名初中生进行调研,并运用结构方程模型进行数据建模分析.结果 发现:教师支持通过阅读投入和阅读兴趣的链式中介影响学生阅读素养.建议教师在阅读教学实践中要改革教学方法,从情感关怀、学习指导、能力指导等多方...     

社会网络嵌入与大学生创业意向的关系:一个有调节的中介模型

探讨社会网络嵌入与大学生创业意向的关系,采用社会网络量表、核心自我评价量表、威廉斯创造倾向测评量表、创业意向量表对大一到大四360名大学生进行调研。结果发现:（1）社会网络嵌入与核心自我评价、创造倾向和大学生创业意向呈显著正相关;（2）社会网络嵌入显著正向预测启示作用     

The mediating role of cultural capital in the relationship between socioeconomic status and student achievement in 14 economies

More empirical evidence is needed to answer the question of in what way a family's socioeconomic status (SES) affects student academic achievement, so this study explores the mediating role of cultural capital (CC) in the relationship between SES and student achievement, using the latest approach to testing mediating effects. The data sets from 14 economies in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2009 were analysed. In general, the results supported the mediation effects of CC, and the mean of ratios of mediation effects to total effects was 23%. For the three frequently used indices of SES, parents’ occupations and education levels had larger impacts on student literacies than did family wealth possession. For most economies, objectified cultural capital (OCC) can explain the effects of all three SES indices on student literacies, but embodied cultural capital (ECC) can only explain the effects of parents’ occupations and education levels on student literacies. Whether for reading literacy, science literacy or mathematics literacy, CC theory is applicable in most economies. However, the mediating effects on reading and science literacies were higher than those on mathematics literacy. For different economies, the explanatory power of CC theory was also different.     

歧视知觉对留守青少年自伤的影响:愤怒的中介作用及性别差异

为了考察愤怒在歧视知觉与留守青少年自伤之间的中介作用及其性别差异,以体验回避模型和性别角色理论为基础,采用歧视知觉量表、愤怒分量表、青少年自我伤害量表对662名留守中学生进行调查。结果表明:(1)歧视知觉、愤怒、自伤间两两显著正相关;(2)歧视知觉不仅直接影响留守青少年自伤,还通过愤怒的中介作用间接影响留守青少年自伤,且该中介作用的后半路径受到性别的调节,愤怒对女生自伤行为的作用比对男生的更强。研究认为愤怒和性别在歧视知觉与留守青少年自伤之间起有调节的中介作用。     

The relation of social skills and school climate of diversity to children's life satisfaction: The mediating role of school connectedness

The present study examined the role of school connectedness in mediating the relations of social skills and school climate of diversity (SCD) to life satisfaction (LS) among school‐aged children. This study also investigated whether there is any gender difference in relationships. Participants included 873 elementary school students in Grades 4 through 6. The results of the structural equation modeling supported the partial mediating role of school connectedness, indicating that social skills and SCD lead to LS both directly and indirectly through enhanced school connectedness. Multigroup analysis demonstrated that the direct path from the SCD to LS was significant only for boys, while other paths are invariant across gender. Implications are addressed for school‐based interventions to promote school connectedness and LS.     

Discrepancies between perceptions of first-grade students at risk for learning disabilities,their parents and teachers

ABSTRACT

This study compared discrepancies between children’s academic and social self-perceptions and parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of children’s academic and social competence among 89 first-grade children: 45 children at risk for learning disabilities (RLD) and 44 of typically developing peers (TD). The relationship between self-perceptions among the two groups of children and their significant adults‘ perceptions were compared. The children with RLD reported lower academic self-perception, but did not report lower social self-concept. The discrepancies between students’, parents’ and teachers’ perceptions of students’ academic and social competence were found only for the RLD group. Parents and teachers rated children with RLD as demonstrating lower levels of academic competence. Only teachers rated children with RLD as demonstrating lower levels of social competence. No significant differences were found among children and their significant adults for the comparison group. A serial-multiple mediation analysis presented the relationship model and emphasized the critical mediating role of teachers and parents in predicting children’s academic self-concept. The educational implications of the results call for sensitizing teachers and parents to their perceptions, and to develop empowering intervention with a focused awareness to the impact of their perceptions.     

Use of social web technologies by international and domestic undergraduate students: implications for internationalising learning and teaching in Australian universities

Much research into the use of online information and communication technologies for the internationalisation of learning and teaching has focused on established web technologies. This paper considers the possible internationalisation implications of existing uses of social software, also known as Web 2.0 technologies, which are now widely available inside and outside of formal education settings. The paper reports on two studies: the first, conducted at a large Australian university, investigated differences between international and domestic undergraduate students’ (n = 1973) use of web‐based technologies and tools; the second investigation reports on interviews with eight Australian and eight Singaporean university students about their use and perceptions of blogs and blogging. The findings from two studies provide new evidence of both cultural similarities and cultural differences in aspects of young university students’ use of social software for communication and content creation. Discussion and conclusions draw out factors to be considered in planning to implement new uses of social software among culturally and linguistically diverse students of the Net Generation, in Australia and more generally.     

社会嵌入对大学生创业意向的影响：创业自我效能的中介作用

基于社会嵌入理论,利用13339名高校毕业生的调查数据,研究了创业支持(关系嵌入)、创业阻力(结构嵌入)、价值认同(认知嵌入)和文化规范(文化嵌入)四个社会嵌入变量对大学生创业意向的影响,以及创业自我效能的中介作用。研究发现:(1)四个社会嵌入变量分别直接影响大学生创业意向,创业支持、创业阻力和价值认同产生显著积极影响,文化规范产生显著消极影响;(2)四个社会嵌入变量分别以创业自我效能为中介间接影响创业意向,创业自我效能在社会嵌入和大学生创业意向之间起部分中介作用;(3)社会嵌入对大学生创业意向影响的总效应量达到0.761,关系嵌入在四个社会嵌入变量中的效应量(0.483)最大。     

社会排斥对大学生网络偏差行为的影响:社交焦虑的中介作用与网络消极情绪体验的调节作用

为考察社交焦虑在社会排斥与大学生网络偏差行为之间的中介效应以及网络消极情绪体验的调节效应,使用社会排斥量表、社交焦虑量表、网络消极情绪体验量表与网络偏差行为量表对822名大学生进行调查。结果显示:(1)社会排斥显著正向预测大学生网络偏差行为;(2)社交焦虑在社会排斥与网络偏差行为的关系中起部分中介作用;(3)网络消极情绪体验调节了社会排斥对大学生网络偏差行为这一中介过程的后半段路径。社会排斥对大学生网络偏差行为的影响是有调节的中介效应。